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07-04-2026
KINSHASA: At least 43 people have been killed in an attack by a rebel group linked to ISIL (ISIS) in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the army.
Regional army spokesperson Lieutenant Jules Tshikudi Ngongo said on Thursday that at least “43 compatriots were killed and 44 houses torched” during the previous day’s attack in Bafwakoa, located in Mambasa territory, in the province of Ituri.
Authorities blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group led by former Ugandan rebels that has sworn allegiance to ISIL.
The army has struggled to contain the group, as it battles several other rebel groups in the east, the most prominent one being the Rwandan-backed M23, which last year seized Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC, as well as several other major cities.
Baptiste Munyapandi, territorial administrator of Mambasa, told the Reuters news agency that search operations were continuing and that the death toll could rise.
Houses were set on fire, some victims were killed with machetes, while others burned in their homes, and two people were abducted, Christian Alimasi, a local customary official in Mambasa territory, told media.
The number of ADF fighters in DRC is unclear, but they are a significant presence in the region.
ADF attacks on civilians have intensified in recent months in parts of Ituri and neighboring North Kivu province, despite joint Congolese-Ugandan military operations against the group launched in 2021.
Last year, the ADF killed 66 people and abducted several more in a neighboring area. “The ADF avoids direct combat with the army and all its partners; that’s why they attack the population in a way that sabotages peace efforts and acts of revenge against the population, thus reprisals against our people,” Ngongo, the Congolese army spokesperson, told The Associated Press news agency.
Data from Insecurity Insight, a research organization that analyses verified violent incidents affecting civilians, shows the ADF accounted for about a quarter of reported violence against civilians in eastern DRC between 2020 and 2025.
Meanwhile, in January, 2025, gunfire rang out across parts of Goma, the largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), hours after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels said they had seized it despite the United Nations Security Council calling for an end to the offensive.
The news comes as reports emerged that DRC and Rwandan troops have also exchanged fire on Monday along their shared border, risking a rapid escalation of the conflict amid the advance of the M23 fighters.
In a statement posted on social media, DRC government’s spokesman Patrick Muyaya confirmed the presence of Rwandan army in Goma.
“The government continues to work to avoid carnage and loss of human life in view of the manifest intentions of Rwanda,” he said, telling residents to stay home and refrain from carrying out vandalism and looting.
Earlier, M23 announced the capture of Goma, which the DRC government described was a “declaration of war” by Rwanda. The UN said the capture has caused “mass panic” among Goma’s two million residents
The M23 claim came minutes before a 48-hour deadline it had given to Congolese troops to surrender their weapons expired. Its fighters also urged Goma residents to remain calm and for members of the DRC military to assemble at the central stadium.
Two witnesses told media, rebels had entered the centre of Goma. One of them shared a brief video showing heavily armed men walking through the streets, the agency reported. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
